Lotte Lehmann

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Lotte Lehmann
Lotte Lehman in Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio
Grave of Lotte Lehmann in the Vienna Central Cemetery, Group 32 C No. 49 (Dec. 2014)

Charlotte "Lotte" Lehmann (born February 27, 1888 in Perleberg , Westprignitz district ; † August 26, 1976 in Santa Barbara, California ) was a German-American opera singer ( soprano ).

Along with Erna Berger , Elisabeth Grümmer , Hilde Güden , Martha Mödl and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, she was one of the outstanding German sopranos of the 20th century and was also known as a writer and poet .

Life

Youth and education

Lotte Lehmann was born in Perleberg in the Prussian province of Brandenburg and grew up in the household of a minor official. Her father sang in the Perleberg choir. The Lotte Lehmann family obviously had a vocal talent; According to family tradition, an aunt who died young is said to have had the voice of an angel. Lotte Lehmann performed in the auditorium of her school as a student. However, her father imagined a “proper” job for her, he was thinking primarily of “teacher”. She showed strength of will and determination in her desire to become a singer. The young Lotte Lehmann found an important sponsor in the landowner Konrad Gans Edler Herr zu Putlitz from nearby Groß Pankow , a proven friend of music and the arts. She passed the entrance examination at the Berlin Royal University of Music with the aria Siébels from Gounod's Faust and the aria "Jerusalem" from Mendelssohn Bartholdy's Paulus .

Later she switched to the private singing school of Etelka Gerster , the famous coloratura soprano whom Verdi had personally sponsored, but who was a serious rival of Adelina Patti , but failed.

Great voice

After studying with Mathilda Mallinger in Berlin, Lehmann began her stage career as a singer in the autumn of 1910 at the Hamburg Opera and made her debut as the second boy in the Magic Flute , with great success. Lehmann always remained a static singer, her broad face, her powerful stature were of the glamorous flair of Maria Jeritza .

In 1914, Lehmann from Prussia became the celebrated and beloved star of the Vienna Court Opera and later the State Opera . In 1916 she established herself there in the second version of Ariadne auf Naxos , at the request of Strauss and Schalk. During her long-term engagement in Vienna until 1938, she grew up to be a world-famous Wagner and Strauss singer. She has made guest appearances in Salzburg, Paris, London, Buenos Aires, Chicago, San Francisco and New York City. In 1926 she was awarded the title of Austrian Chamber Singer , in 1928 she was made an honorary member of the Vienna State Opera .

Since after 1933 she did not follow Hermann Göring's demand to join the Nazi art scene as a world-famous singer , her appearances during the Nazi era in Germany were made impossible. After Austria's annexation to the German Reich , she emigrated , like many other artists, to the United States, where she also worked as a director . From 1938 to 1951, the Metropolitan Opera in New York was the center of her artistic life.

In 1951 she announced the end of her stage career during a concert in New York's Town Hall . She then worked as a singing teacher, first in New York and later in Santa Barbara , California. Her most important student from that time was the soprano Grace Bumbry . Even Judith Beckmann was taught by her. In 1963 Lotte Lehmann received the Ring of Honor of the City of Vienna , and in 1964 the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In August 1976 she died in Santa Barbara and was buried on February 24, 1977 in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 32 C, number 49) in an honorary grave of the City of Vienna . This made her wish come true to find her final resting place in Vienna, where she had spent the happiest time of her life. A quote by the composer Richard Strauss was engraved on her gravestone : "She sang that it touched stars."

Leo Slezak described them as follows:

“She had the secret, the only secret we have: heart. A tone that comes from the heart goes to the heart of the listener, maybe he doesn't even know what actually gives him such joy, what makes him so satisfied and happy. "

In 1970 the Lotte-Lehmann-Promenade in Salzburg-Aigen was named after her and in 1996 in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) the Lotte-Lehmann-Weg .

She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame , located at 1735 Hollywood Blvd. Her first name is mistakenly written “Lottie” there.

Since 2009 the Lotte Lehmann Academy has been organizing various summer courses for singers in its hometown of Perleberg.

Audio documents

Works

  • Verses in prose . Hugo Heller -Bukum-AG, Vienna 1923
  • Orplid, my country. Novel . Reichner , Vienna a. a. 1936
  • Beginning and ascent. Life memories . Reichner, Vienna a. a. 1937
  • More than singing. The Interpretation of Songs . Boose & Hawkes, London 1945
  • My Many Lives . Boose & Hawkes, New York 1948
  • Singing with Richard Strauss . Hamilton Books, London 1964
  • Midway in my song. Autobiography . Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn. 1970

literature

Web links

Commons : Lotte Lehmann  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Lehmann, Lotte
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lehmann, Charlotte
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American opera singer (soprano)
DATE OF BIRTH February 27, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Perleberg , Westprignitz District , Brandenburg Province
DATE OF DEATH August 26, 1976
Place of death Santa Barbara, California